[mountaineer]

While I believe no school administrator has the legal right to prevent a 16-year-old from writing a letter to the local (non-school) newspaper, I'm not sure this kid's suffered any harm. He did write his letter. No one stopped him. Although he claims he's been forbidden from writing another, he doesn't allege he actually tried to write another and was prevented from doing so. As we haven't heard the school officials' side of this, I'm taking this kid's complaint with a grain of salt.

[bwteim]

As we haven't heard the school officials' side of this, I'm taking this kid's complaint with a grain of salt.

Good point.

[Pearls Before Swine]

I'm not sure this kid's suffered any harm. He did write his letter. No one stopped him.

He was under clear threat of academic harm -- suspension, disciplinary entries in his record, etc. He decided to play offense rather than have to explain the black marks that would surely be on his transcript to the colleges he would be applying to.

[Sloth]

As we haven't heard the school officials' side of this, I'm taking this kid's complaint with a grain of salt.

I think the silence of the school officials is one the most damning factors in these situations. They duck questions and say things like "it's inappropriate or against our policy to comment on matters involving a student" or conveniently attend conferences out of town, because they know that their position is indefensible.